Welding jig for car underframes



May 22,1951" T. G. SHIPLEYV WELDING JIG FOR CAR UNDERF'RAMES' Filed May11, 1948 INVENTOR.

TOLBOTT G. SHIPLEY BY Y ATTORNEY Patented May 22, 1951 i UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE" WELDING JIG UNDERFRAMES V I American Car and FoundryCompany, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New J ersey Application May.11, 1948, Serial No. 26,363

This invention relates to apparatus for assembling railway carunderframes and particularly to apparatus for temporarilysecuringunderframe members to "an assembly jig during welding of the underframe.

'In present practice it is conventional to,

assemble the various members which comprise the underframe of a railwayfreightcar on an assembly jig. The method of assembling the underframeconsists of setting up the completed center sill on the jig, securingthe bolsters, crossbearers and crossties to the center sill by weldingand securing side sill connectors and reinforcement channels to the endsof the bolsters, crossties and crossbearers, respectively. The functionof the side sillconnectors is to provide a support and connecting meansfor the car sidewall, which in the completed c'ar rests upon and issecured to the upper horizontal surface of the side sill connectors. Thefunction of the side sill reinforcements is dual, first to provideadditional support for the side sill and second to reinforce thesidewall of the carat its weakest point, namely, at the door opening. Itis obvious from the very nature of the functions performed by thesemembers that their upper surfaces must all lie in the same horizontalplane and that their outwardly facing surfaces should all lie in thesame vertical plane, parallel to the direction of the center sill.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple yet effective jig.for holding the side sill connectors and the side sill reinforcementmembers in the correct position with relation to the transverse membersof the car underframe for welding thereto.

Another object is to provide a clamp of this character capable of beingeasily displaced from operating position with relation to the main bodyof the jig to permit insertion of the component parts of the underframeand removal of the completed underframe from the jig. The feature isimportant, because the underframe expands due to the heat of welding,and the expansion would preclude removal from a jig having fixedclamping elements until the underframe cooled and contractedsuificiently to permit withdrawal. Such delay would, of course, reduceconsiderably '2 Claims. ((31. 113-99) Referring to Fig. 1, the numeral 5indicates a jig for the assembly of railway car underframes.

. The assembly bed or table of the jig includes'at least two parallel,spaced stringers 6, which support a plurality of spaced transversemembers 1. stringers Bare of substantially the same length as the centersill which is to be used in the car underframe. Transverse members i arechannels, slightly longer than the underframe transverse members; theyare arranged and secured to the upper surface of stringers 6 in spacedpairs with their web portions vertical, and flanges outward. The spacingis such that a pair of members 1 will be under each transverse member oftheun derframe when the underframe is positioned on the jig forassembly. Transverse members 1 act as a support for the elements whichcompose the underframe. A center sill 8 of standard design is set up onassembly jig 5. Body bolsters 9 are positioned for welding to centersill 8 near its ends. Between body bolsters '9, additional transversemembers, crossbearers l0 and crossties H are positioned on the assemblyjig 5 for welding to the center sill 8 at spaced intervals.

' crossties lLrespectively. Side sill reinforcements the number ofunderframes which a .jig could accommodate during a given period oftime, and

would make the construction of additional jigs 14 of channel form arepositioned to be secured to the end surfaces of intermediatecrossbearers If]. Clamps l5 and I6 are mounted on the ends of transversemembers 1 to hold side sill reinforcement channels l4 and side sillsupports [2 and [3, respectively, against the end surfaces ofcrossbearers l0, bolsters 9, and "crossties H, for welding thereto. Adetailed description of clamps l5 and I6 follows.

Referring now to Fig. 2, side sill reinforcement clamp I5 is shown inenlarged view in operative position, resting on and secured to the uppersurface of the upper flanges of a pair of transverse members 1. Abuttingthe lower left hand corner of clamp I5 a block 23 rests upon and issecured to transverse members 1. Block 23 provides a support forreinforcement channel li which rests on the upper surface of the block.The end of crossbearer Ill abuts the upper surface of the lower flangeand the inner surface of the web of channel M and it is desired thatthese abutting surfaces be secured to each other by a welding process.'The purpose of clamp 15 is to hold channel member i l in the correctrelation with crossb'earer ID for welding.

Clamp [5 includes a base plate E9 to the lower surface of which arewelded angle members I'L The top flanges of these angle members extendtogether and their vertical legs are parallel to each other and spacedso that their outer surfaces fit snugly between and are welded to theinner surfaces of paired channel members I of the jig bed. Additionalangle members I8 are welded to the upper .su'rface'of base plate 16 withtheir upwardly extending flanges parallel and slightly spaced apart.Thus, members ll, I8, and 19 form rigid parts of the jig bed. Thevertical leg 20 of the clamp consists essentially of a flat, rec-,tangular bar with a lug 2| at the lower end and with a horizontal ledgemember 22 extending in the opposite direction at the upper end and, conveniently, welded to leg 20. The edge of lug 2| is tangential to thelower end of leb 2H and the opposite, lower corner of the leg is roundedfor a purpose to be described. Lug 2| is interposed between theupstanding flanges of angles l8 and is pivotally connected thereto by apin 26 retained in position by a cotter key which passes through asmall, diametral hole in the pin. A diagonal brace 28 is pinned to leg20 and angles 18, as at 29 and 3B. The brace is formed of a bar 31, atone end, which is received between the upright flanges of angles l8, andbifurcations 32 at the other end which embrace vertical leg 20. Aninverted, U-shaped hand grip 33 is welded to bar 3|. The brace, leg 20,and angle i8 are drilled so as to form a right triangle when freefittings pivot pins 29 and 39 are inserted.

Ledge member 22 at the upper end of leg 2!! is flat and substantiallyrectangular and is disposed so that its long dimension is parallel tothe flat sides of vertical leg 2 and its major surfaces aresubstantially horizontal. The free end of the plate member is verticallypierced by an elongated opening 34. The distance of the inner edge ofopening 34 from vertical leg 20 is somewhat less than the flange widthof underframe channel M. A wedge 34a is provided for insertion throughopening 34.

Operation of clamping portion l of the jig is as follows:

Initially, pin 39 is withdrawn, releasing the connection betweendiagonal brace 28 and angle members 18 and permitting vertical leg 20 toswivel to the broken line, inoperative position of Fig. 2. The componentparts of the underframe are assembled on the jig bed with channel memberl4 abutting the ends of crossbearers H] and supported on block 23. Withthe aid of hand grip 33, vertical leg 2 is rotated until its inner edgebears against the outer surface of channel member l4. Pin 38 is drivenin place to lock the diagonal brace and wedge 34a is thereupon insertedin opening 34 and is driven downwardly behind the flange of channel 14so as to secure the channel in the proper position for welding tocrossbearer I0. Upon conclusion of the welding process, wedge 34a isknocked out and pin 30 withdrawn. With the aid of hand grip 33, bracketleg 20 is again rotated to its inoperative position, the rounded lowercorner of the leg facilitating this movement.

Referring now to Fig. 4, it will be seen that clamp [8 at bolster a isidentical to clamp I5, except for the design of the vertical legportion. Since clamp 16 is designed to hold a relatively shallow channelmember l2 for welding to bolster 9, its vertical leg 35 differs indesign from vertical leg 20 of clamp l5 in that, instead of pierced topledge 22, vertical leg 35 has a ledge element 36 welded theretomediately of its height and extending inwardly at a right angle.

Clamp I6 is applied similarly to clamp l5; after the underframe partshave been positioned on assembly jig 5, vertical leg 35 is rotated aboutpivot pin 26 until it abuts the outer surface of channel member [2 andledge 36 rests on the upper flange of the channel member. Pin 30 isdriven, as before, securing brace 28 to stabilize the channel on theassembly bed for welding to the end of the bolster. On completion of thewelding process, pin 30 is removed and vertical leg 35 may be swung outof the way, thereby permitting removal of the assembled underframe fromthe Other parts of the underframe are secured to- 'gether in anysuitable or previously known manner. The invention may be modified invarious respects as will occur to those skilled in the art and theexclusive use of all modifications as come Within the scope of theappended claims is contemplated.

I claim:

1. In combination with a jig for assembling freight car underframes,said jig comprising a plurality of longitudinal stringer members and aplurality of transverse members resting upon and secured to saidstringer members, clamps for securing the side elements of saidunderframe to said assembly jig, said clamps comprising a horizontalbase member for attachment to said transverse members, a vertical legmember pivotally connected at its lower end to said horizontal basemember for rotation in a vertical plane parallel to said transversemembers, a horizontal ledge member formed on said vertical leg member atthe same height as the underframe side members, said vertical leg memberbeing formed with a straight edge adapted to abut against the verticalportion of side members of the underframe and a diagonal brace memberpivotally connected to said vertical leg member and detachably connectedto said horizontal base member.

2. In a jig for assembling freight car under-' frames, a rectangular bedfor aligning and supporting the component elements of said underframes,said underframe elements including a longitudinal center sill supportedlengthwise on said bed, a plurality of spaced transverse members, andlongitudinal side members abutting the outer ends of said transversemembers, a clamp for securely positioning said longitudinal side membersagainst said transverse members for welding thereto, said clampcomprising a horizontal base member secured to said bed adjacent andnormal to a side thereof, a normally vertical leg member pivotallyconnected at its lower end to the inner end portion of said horizontalbase member for rotation in a vertical plane normal to said longitudinalside members, a horizontal ledge member being formed on said verticalleg at substantially the same height as the upper surface of saidlongitudinal side members, said vertical leg member being formed with astraight edge adapted to abut against the vertical portion of saidlongitudinal side members, and a diag-' onal brace member pivotallyconnected to the upper end portion of said vertical leg member anddetachably connected to the outer end portion of said horizontal basemember to permit rotation of said vertical leg member to a horizontalposition for insertion of the underframe elements and removal of theassembled underframe.

TOLBOTT G. SHIPLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

